Spike-puller.



T. A. CHRISTIAN. SPIKE PULLER. IXFPLlCATlQNv FILED MAY 20. W18" Y //Z 57 3 35 gal 53 7/ 52 1,285,561 Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-"SHEET l.

T. A. CHRISTIAN.

SPI-KE FULLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1918.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

warren snares PATENT orrioa.

THOMAS ALFRED CHRISTIAN, OF MERCED FALLS, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TO FRED. A. STEWART AND ONE-THIRD TO LEMUEL F. LONG, BOTH OF MERCED FALLS, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed May 20, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. CHRISTIAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Merced Falls, in the county of Merced and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spike- Pullers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

. This invention relates to devices for withdrawing spikes and particularly to a device designed for the purpose of withdrawing railroad spikes from ties.

Generally speaking, the object of my invention is to provide a spike pulling device having a clamp whereby it may be readily engaged with the head of a rail and having a lever and spike. engaging jaws mounted upon the lever.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the spike engaging member is provided with opposed jaws which are automatically forced inward around the head of the spike as the spike engaging member is lowered against the base of the rail and which jaws, at a predetermined point, are automatically locked against opening movement to permit the application of power to the lever to withdraw the spike.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accom-v panying drawings, wherein Specification of Letters Patent.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a rail and a portion of a tie, the spike puller being in elevation; I

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lever support and lever;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation. of the spike engaging member; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the bolt 16; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sectionalviews of the spike engaging member, the gripping jaws being in elevation;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5; and v i Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the spike puller with a difierent arrangement of the parts from that shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to these figures, it will be seen Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

Serial No. 235,540.

that my device comprises a saddle 10 or base which is adapted to rest upon the head of a rail A as in Fig. 1, and which has two laterally disposed depending flanges 11 embracing the head of the rail, each of these flanges being cut away as at 12, the cut-away portion of one flange being disposed diagonally 1( ipposite t0 the cut-away portion of another ange.

Extending upward from this base or saddle 10 is a standard 13 which is bifurcated at its upper end as at 14 to provide-laterally spaced ears, one of these cars being formed with a square opening 15 and the other with a circular opening. Pivoted upon a pivot pin 16 extending through the openings in the ears is a lever 17. The pivot pin 16 is preferably squared at one end to engage with the squared opening 15 so as to prevent a rotation of the pivot pin, the lever rotating upon the pivot pin and means are preferably provided for detachably engaging the pivot pin 16 to prevent its accidental withdrawal.

Pivotally mounted upon the standard 13 on each side face thereof, immediately above the base 10, are the locking hooks 18, these hooks being pivoted upon a transversely extending pivot pin 19, which passes through thestandard. Each hook is disposed in alinement with a cut-away portion 12. The hooks are so formed that when they are forced inward they will engage beneath the head of the rail.

Pendant from the bifurcated end 20 of the lever 17 is a hollow body 21 constituting clined edges 25 of the side walls of the body 21. The inner faces of the jaws are formed to provide downwardly and inwardly extending bolt engaging faces 29 on each jaw. The aws are urged outward by means of a spring 30 disposed between the shanks 26 and heldin suitable sockets in the shanks.

Each of the shanks 26 is provided with a pin 31 which extends out through a vertically extending slot 32 formed in the corresponding end wall of the body 21, this slot being about twice as long as the diameter of the pin 31. Thus the and their shanks may have a limited longitudinal movement with reference to the body 21. Just above the pins 31 the shanks 26 are formed with inwardly extending shoulders 33. The side extent permitted by the slots 32. the locking plunger will bear against the side faces of the shoulder \Vhen, however, th'e aws v 27 have been" forced upward to the full ex tent of the slots 32, the shoulders 33 are carried upward sufliciently to permit the looking plunger to be projected beneath the shoulders, thereby locking the shanks of the jaws 27 from downward movement. While I do not wish to limit myself to this, I pref e'rafbly provide double coiled spring .10 which is mounted uponthe pivot bolt 19 and which bears against the under s idejof the lever urging the handleofthe upward. In the practlcal use of this invention; the

saddle 10 is clamped upon the head of a rail by means of the clips or hooks 18 and in'this position is .firnily supported upon the rail. Tl e lever 17 is then raised so that the jaw ca"-*ier is shifted downward toward the spike to be withdrawn. The jaws 27 at this time are spread apart to their greatest extent but are lowered so thatthe pins 31 are disp'o sed at the lower endsof the slots 32. In this position the biting edges of the jaws 27 are spaced apart a distance greater than v the head of the spike to be withdrawn. New.

the lever 17 is raised and the jaws are forced downward against the tie the shoulders 28 will be forced upward in engagement with theinclined faces 24 .an'd as the carrier 21 is forced downward the upward pressure on thejaws 27 will cause the shoulders 28, to trlavel against the inclined faces 25 and travel toward each other so that eventually the jaws will close beneath the head of the spike. When the jaws have been forced inward and, therefore, upward a predetermined degree, ,the, shoulders 33 will have passed the locking plunger and the plunger will spring inward locking'the jaws from downwardand consequently locking them from outward movement. At this point the jaws are firmly engaged with the head of the spike and cannot be moved outward. Then the outer end of tlie v lever is depressed to withdraw the spike. This may be accomplished by exerting a continuously acting downward force upon the outer end of the leveror, by strikin the outer end of-the lever as with a sledge ammer and the spike will be warren-awn; hen the spike is fully withdrawn the plunger 35 is retracted by pulling on the handle 39am as so'on as 1t has been fully retracted the spring 30 will cause the jaws to spring apart aiid t'o dr'op downward to the extent permitted, bY the slots 32, thus releasing thexspike; The d evice then ready for the withdrawal another spike- It will be obvious that'the saddle or support 10 may beshifted along the rail to new positions without detachingit from the 1-" "fl'so" that a-p'luf ality of spikes may be withdrawn very q'uickly. to be noted that the upwardly extending stein of the head or body 21 is relatively large in cross section to receive the naps-ct; of a sledge hamfnen which may be used for the' purpose of forcing the member 21 downward and thereby forcing, as befoi'e' described, the jaws 27 toward each other into" engagement with the spike.

The device above described is very simple and strong is very "c oni' enient, has few parts and is thoroughlye'ffective in action. While I have illustrated certain details of can.

struction whiehl have usedjin p'ractice, yet

it is to be understood that the principle of the invention might embodied in other fo -ms, without departing fr om the spiritof the invention as defined in the appended claims. v In Fig. 81 have shown how my spike puller may be used whei e thc. spike to be pulled is disposed at lbwer elevation than the support as, for instancettherail A upon which the lever is mounted. In this case,

. the body 21 is pivoted to a shackle a in turn connected to a' link Z) which is engaged by the pin -23. It will be obvious that with either the construction shown in Fig. 1 or that shown in Fig. S the member 21 may be forced down toward the spike to be engaged by the gripping jawsby means of a sledge hammer and where the. jaws are engaged with the spike,v the lever 17 may be engaged with the member 21 or the shackle a; and

link 6 may be engaged with the lever and member 21.

By providing a spike engaging member which may be hammered down to force the gripping jaws inward into engagement with the spike it is easy to apply the member to spikes which have even been driven quite deeply intothe woodof the tie and secure a firm hold on thespike.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A spike puller comprising a supporting base, a lifting member mounted upon the base, a jaw carrier opcratively connected to the lifting member, jaws operatively mounted on the :j aw carrier, means for forcing said jaws inward upon a downward movement of the jaw carrier relative to the jaws, and means for locking the jaws from movement away from each other after the jaws are moved inward a predetermined dis tance.

2- A spike puller comprising a supporting base, a lifting member mounted on the base, a j aw carrier depending from one end of the member, opposed spike gripping jaws mounted in the carrier and extending below the carrier, the jaws having a limited vertical movement within the carrier and being movable toward or from each other, means for automatically shifting the jaws toward each other as the jaws move upward in the carrier, and means for locking the jaws from movement away from each other after the jaws are moved inward a predetermined distance.

A spike puller comprising a supporting base, a lifting member mounted on the supporting base, a jaw carrier pivoted to and depending from one end of the member, the jaw carrier being hollow and open at its lower end, a pair of confronting aws disposed at the lower end of the carrier and having shanks extending up thereint-o, the jaws and shanks being movable toward or from each other and having a limited vertical movement within the carrier, the carrier being formed with upwardly and inwardly inclined faces and the jaws having shoulders engaging with said faces whereby, as the jaws are forced downward against a tie, they will be forced toward each other by contact of the shoulders with said faces. and means for locking the jaws against outward movement after they have moved toward each other a predetermined distance.

4. A spike puller comprising a supporting base, a lifting member mounted on the supporting base, a jaw carrier pivoted to and depending from one end of the member, the jaw carrier being hollow and open at its lower end. a pair of confronting jaws disposed at the lower end of the carrier and having shanks extending up thereinto, the jaws and shanks being movable toward or from each other and having a limited vertical movement within the carrier. the carrier being formed with upwardly and inwardly inclined faces and the jaws having shoulders engaging with said faces whereby as the jaws are forced downward against a tie they will vbeforced toward. each other by contact of the shoulders with said faces, means for locking the jaws against outward movement after they have moved toward each other .a predetermined distance, said means comprising a locking plunger mounted upon the carrier, and shoulders formed upon the shanks of the jaws beneath which said plunger cz1- gages.

' A spike puller including a supporting member, a lever pivoted thereto, a jaw carrier pivoted to one end of the lever and depending therefrom, the carrier having a h0llow body open at its lower end, the side walls of the lower end of the carrier having their lower edges upwardly and convergently inclined, jaws disposed below the lower end of the carrier and having inclined shoulders engaging the said inclined faces and having shanks extending upward into the carrier, a pin projecting from each shank into the end wall of the carrier, the end wall of the carrier having a vertical slot for the pin, a spring engaging the shanks and urging them apart, a plunger mounted upon one side wall of the carrier and urged into the carrier, the shanks of the jaws being provided with shoulders beneath which said pin engages when the shanks are raised and the jaws are forced toward each other to thereby lock the jaws from outward movement.

6. A spike puller comprising a base, a lever pivotally mounted upon the base, a jaw carrier having a hollow body open at its lower end and having an upwardly extending relatively thick stein pivoted to the lever and adapted to receive the impact of a hammer, the lower edges of the side wall of the carrier being upwardly and centrally inclined, jaws disposed below the side walls of the carrier and having shanks extending into the carrier, the jaws having shoulders engaging with the inclined lower edges of the carrier walls, means supporting the jaws and shanks for limited vertical movement within the carrier and for movement toward or from each other, a spring urging the jaws away from each other, and means for automatically locking the jaws from clownward movement when the jaws have been forced upward and toward each other.

7. A railway spike puller comprising a saddle adapted to fit over the head of a rail, freely swinging hooks mounted upon the saddle and adapted to be shifted beneath the head of the rail to lock the saddle thereto, the saddle having an upwardly extended bifurcated standard, a lever pivoted in said bifurcation of the standard, and spike engaging jaws operatively pivoted to the lever.

8. A railway spike puller comprising a saddle adapted to rest upon a rail, an upwardly extending standard mounted on the saddle, a lever pivoted to the upper end of the standard, a jaw carrier pivoted to the IBVBI}, aws mounted upon the earner, means signature in the presence of two WliJIIBSSGS.

for orcing the jaws toward each other to grip a spike when the carrier is forced down- THOMAS ALFRED CHRISTIAN .ward, and means on the saddle for holding Witnesses:

the saddle to the rail against upward move- L. F. LONG,

ment when the carrier is forced downward. S. T. BERITZHOFF.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my I 

